DRAGON QUEST OF THE STARS for iPhone

Free-to-play Dragon Quest wannabe

Dragon Quest of the Stars is a free mobile role-playing game from Square Enix. The game aims to emulate the Dragon Quest series when it comes to the battle system, characters, and stories. It gives the players the control over three siblings who became the "Questrocrats"—the game's term for adventurers. The three protagonists must travel the world, help those who are in need, and delve into dungeons to beat the enemies. Along the way, they will learn more about their family history and about the dark entity that looms over everything. At first glance, Dragon Quest of the Stars looks to live up to the Dragon Quest name. However, like other similar games, it only managed to resemble the popular series in superficial ways. 

Standard auto-gacha

To start on a positive note, Dragon Quest of the Stars has great artwork that looks like a version of Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies. It has the same Akira Toriyama look that has been part of the series. The soundtrack is also as stirring as the other games. However, beyond the art and music, the game is essentially just a standard gacha RPG. 

For one, the game is a long and expensive journey. There is a lot of stuff to collect in this game, including armors, weapons, and items. You will also need to collect coins and gems that you can use to expand your inventory, safe storage, refill your energy meter, and buy loot boxes. The game uses this as a perfect segue to fill you with the various microtransactions available. Early in the game, you will be offered with limited-time events, starter packs, and gem sales. 

It doesn't help that the gameplay is not exciting at all. There is limited gameplay, and the dungeons are just straight lines with a couple of enemy encounters and the occasional boss. The characters attack automatically unless directed to focus on a single foe. The lack of player input—other than selecting which special abilities to use—makes the entire game boring.